Members of the cabinet were today briefed on the work of the Privatization Committee, and the progress of the committee’s work. At today’s meeting of the Cabinet, the information was presented to the members by the Chairperson of the Committee and Minister of Civil Aviation and Communication Mahmood Razi.
As part of the work of the Privatization Committee, Mr Razi also gave the details of the decision to transfer the management of Indira Gandhi Memorial Hospital (IGMH) to Apollo Hospitals of India. He said the decision was taken adhering to all the laws and regulations.
Invest Maldives called for expression of interest to outsource IGMH, Hithadhoo Regional Hospital, and Kulhudhuffushi Regional Hospital on 15 January 2009. Out of 14 parties who registered their interest with the Invest Maldives, 4 parties submitted proposals before the deadline.
Speaking on the evaluations of the proposals submitted by the 4 parties, Mr Razi said the committee recommended that none of the proposals were solid and they were informed accordingly.
Mr Razi said the Privatization Committee then decided to consult the Indian government on the issue because IGMH is operated under a five year Memorandum of Understanding between the governments of India and the Maldives in September 2008. He said the decision to transfer the management of IGMH to Apollo Hospitals was made based on the recommendations of the Indian government.
He assured that there was no room for corruption in the process, and the decision was made with the interest of the people in mind.
At today’s meeting, Mr Razi also briefed the members on the progress and gave details of different stages of Hanimaadhoo airport development project and housing development projects.
Members of the cabinet also discussed the issue of closing the government employees’ Provident Fund and reinvesting the money in the fund. The cabinet also discussed the issue on the meeting held on 27 October 2009. After the discussing the options proposed by the Ministry of Finance and Treasury, members decided to follow the recommendation of the Ministry.
The Cabinet today finalized the management contract to be signed between the province offices and the Ministries to transfer the some functions of ministries to province offices. The decision to transfer some functions of Ministries to province offices were made on the cabinet meeting held on the 12 January.
Members also decided to hold the ceremony to sign the contract between the Ministry of Education and the province offices tomorrow.
